Tucson home sales for September broke the mold for seasonal sales. Normally sales in September are less than August. Not in 2008. Go figure, the economy has tanked, credit has tanked, nobody fully trusts either candidate for President, nothing but negative-negative-negative in the economic news, yet Tucson home sales go up.
Over two years ago my son and his friend approached me to help them find a building to lease or purchase for a restaurant. We looked at property in the complex at Silverbell and Grant. It met their needs, but, a pool supply retailer beat them to it. We talked about downtown Tucson and Rio Nuevo. They liked the idea and looked at several properties. Settling on a property owned by John Wesley Miller. For those who know Tucson, its in the old McLellan’s building.
Tucson home sales for August were nothing spectacular, yet not horrible considering the current market. TAR/MLS reported 903 official sales. Which was 13 sales below what I predicted eight months ago. However, not all the numbers were in when the monthly report is prepared. As of today there were 917 sales. Which was one over what I predicted. I predict September will see a significant decrease to 750 homes. Seasonally home sales decline in the fall and winter months in Tucson. September generally sees a 17% decrease in the number of homes sold when compared to August sales. October should see a 6% increase over September. Its the seasonal trend.
Average home sales price for the month of August was $238,504, with a median of $185,000. A significant difference. There were 10 homes that sold for over $1 million, averaging $1.29 million. There were 174 homes that sold between the median and average sales prices. Fifteen percent of the homes that sold were within the highest range of homes for sale which is the $200,000 to $249,999 range for a total of 135 homes. Fifty seven percent of the homes sold in August sold for under $200,000. Of that over half of these homes sold for under $150,000.
The official numbers from TAR are out. With the anticipated seasonal decline in sales for July, residential home sales were slightly higher than predicted. Eight months ago I predicted 927 sales, 945 sales were officially reported, as of this writing 949 sales were recorded for July. Tucson home sale units decreased by 8.61% over that of June, which can be expected. July always has a 8–9% lower sales volume than June.
The number of available homes repeated previous months by decreasing an additional 3.24%. We have seen inventory decrease for several months. We are now below 8,000 available homes. A good sign for a recovering home market. Continual good news for home sellers and the local real estate market. I predicted that we will see a very healthy market when we reach 7,000 available homes. We are headed in the right direction. Not there yet, but, getting there. Read the rest of this entry »
Our Federal government has stimulated the market with the recent tax credit. Now is a great time to buy. Those who ignore this opportunity will be throwing money away. Does this mean Buyers should throw caution to the wind? By no means should any home buyer ignore due diligence in buying a home. Buying more home than you can afford regardless of incentives is always a mistake. Being reasonable and rational is always a good thing. There are conditions for meeting the criteria. Not everyone will meet the requirements. As any good Realtor will tell you to check with your tax account or real estate attorney to get the best advise to you.
What does the tax credit potentially mean to you? READ MORE
My prediction for May 2008 Tucson real estate sales was 1,035 sales. The officially reported number or 1,025 (collected June 4th) was very close. Checking this morning there were 25 additional sales not reported on time which increases the number of sales to 1050. READ MORE
Will we exceed the predicted sales of 1,035 for May? We will know in a matter of days. The good thing is sales are continually increasing, which is good news for Tucson real estate. Bad news for those who wait for woulda, shoulda, coulda. Read More
In a market where buyer confidence is slowly returning it is important to have a strategy if you expect to sell sooner than later. The Tucson real estate market is still reeling, but, not as much as Phoenix, Stockton CA or other areas. Most home sellers, even in the Tucson Real Estate Market, like to set a price and hold. Losing opportunity and eventually selling for much less than they could have gotten. You’ve heard it before, Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Having a strategy (prior planning) can make a difference on whether a home sells (prevents) or does not sell (poor performance). Read the rest of this entry »
Who has the best answer to the question, "How should you communicate with Internet prospects?"
Everybody has an opinion on this topic. What really works, not in theory or concept, but, in practice? Personally, I think asking questions of a prospect is a turn off. I like to start out with offering information and advise without being apparent about it. Leaving it up to the prospect to take it to the next level. Here are two samples:
"Many homebuyers, especially first time homebuyers, are not fully informed about home inspections. Leaving themselves open for problems down the road. On my website, I talk about the importance of home inspections. To read more click here."
"Selecting the right lender can make a big difference. On my website, I talk about the importance of lender selection and preparation to buy. To read more click here."
What did I do?
I provided a brief message giving the buyer control to either click and read more or ignore the message.
I didn't ask anything of the prospect.
I increased opportunity to get the prospect to my blog site.
I am setting up my rapport with prospects to win them over before I ask them, "How can I help you?"
How many times have you walked into a store and had a salesperson come up and ask right off the bat, "How can I help you?" How many times did you want to respond with, "By leaving me alone?" Remember, home buyers on the Internet want to be in control. Let them have control. Be smart about how you put yourself in front of them. Not all buyers read blogs. Not all blog readers are buyers. Creating a mix from website to blog site to provide invaluable service is a key to success in my book.
So, I leave you with this thought, "How best should I communicate with Internet prospects?"
Douglas Trudeau, MBA, Assoc. Broker Selling Tucson Real Estate
In a market where buyer confidence is slowly returning it is important to have a strategy if you expect to sell sooner than later. The Tucson real estate market is still reeling, but, not as much as Phoenix, Stockton CA or other areas. Most home sellers, even in the Tucson Real Estate Market, like to set a price and hold. Losing opportunity and eventually selling for much less than they could have gotten. You’ve heard it before, Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Having a strategy (prior planning) can make a difference on whether a home sells (prevents) or does not sell (poor performance). 
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